dennis



(No Model.)

J W DENNIS DENTAL PLUGGER.

No. 532,721. Patented Jan. 15, 1895.

. INVENTOB E S S M U W ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES JAMES IV. DENNIS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO CLARAE. DENNIS,

PATENT OFFIC or sAME'PLAoE.

DENTAL PLUGGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 532,721, dated Januaryli'), 1895.

Application filed July 3, l 894. v SerialNo. 516,436- (No model.)

To all whom zit may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES W. DENNIS, of Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved DentalPlugger, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in dental pluggers, and it'hasfor its object to provide a plugger in which the working face will be ofa yielding material, being especially adapted for the introduction ofamalgamating .filling into the cavity of a tooth, whereby the ureexerted by the act of recovery, or retractive action on the part of theelastic or yielding surface of the plugger, will materially serve toknead, as it were, the amalgam in place, and greatly facilitate theextraction of the mercury from the filling.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a partial side elevation and partial sectional view of oneform of the plugger. Fig. 2 is a sectional view ttiiough What may betermedaremovable tip for the plugger, the said tip being of differentshape than that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an edge view of another formof tip adapted for use in a plugger and to constitute the workingsurface thereof. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the tip shown in Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is a side elevation of another form of the tip. Fig. 6 is also aside elevation, viewed at right-angles to that shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7is a side elevation of a body portion of a plugger, illustrating aremovable tip thereon, the tip being in section. Fig. 8 is an under faceview of the plugger shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a side elevation ofanother from of plugger, provided with a removable tip. Fig. 10 is asection taken substantially on the line 1010 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11isadetail view of the receiving tube shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 12 is adetail view of the tip adapted to enter said tube. r

In using the word tip, it is intended to mean the working end of theplugger, the body of the plugger consisting of a handle A and a shank13, either straight or curved, as occasion may demand; and in the formof body illustrated in Fig. 1, the shank B is provided with a socket Oat its outer end, of tubular form, the socket being at an acuteangle tothe shank, but the degree of inclination may be changed, and in the saidFig. 1, I have illustrated a receiving tube 10 fitted in the socket O,the tube being provided with a flaring outer end 11, and the tip D, thatis removably placed in the receiving tube, consists of a working surface12 of a yielding or pliable material, soft rubber being usuallypreferred, and a backing and shank 13 of hard rubber, or other hardmaterial, the body being more or less cylindrical in order to, fit theflaring end 11 of the receiving tube 10, while the shank of the tip isentered a pre" determined distance into said tube. The working surface12 of the tip in this instance is cupped or concaved in order that itmay produce a maximum of suction when brought to bear upon a surfacesuchas an amalgamating filling.

In Fig. 2 a receiving tube '14 is employed, and said tube constitutesa-portion of the tip. The working surface 12 of the tip is of a yieldingmaterial such as rubber, and is firmly attached to the body and shank13, as in the tip shown in Fig. 1, made of a harder material, but theshank in this instance is secured firmly in the receiving tube, and thebody surface extends beyond the end of the tube. The working surface 12of the tip in this instance is rounded off or-rendered more or lesscylindrical, in fact, the body and working surface constitutesubstantially an oval.

In the form of the tip shown in Figs. 3 and 4, said tip consists of areceiving tube 15, which is interiorly threaded to receive a threadedstem or shank 16, the said shank being provided with a body section 17of a hard material, and a working surface 18, is secured to the saidbody in any approved manner, the working surface being of soft rubber ora like material, and the said working surface is shown wedge shaped incross section, opposite faces being quite wide, whereby when this tip isemployed, by introducing its receiving tube 15 into the socket C of thebody of the pluggerthe working portion of the tip may be turned to bringa longitudinal portion of the working surface either transverselyorlongitudinally, or diagonally across the face of the tube. In fact,the working surface of the tip under this form may be shifted in amanner to bring said surface to bear upon any desirable portion of thetooth.

In Figs. 5 and 6, the tip D comprises a threaded receiving tube 15, asin Figs. 3 and 4, and correspondingly threaded shank 16 and body 17, andthe working surface 18, which is of a yielding material, such as softrubber, is made at its outer end, and is provided with adepression 18,extending through from side to side. This tip is especially adapted forworking amalgam or like fillings at the edge of a tooth, or where thefilling extends beyond the crown and down one of the walls of the tooth,since while pressure is being brought to bear upon the filling at itsoverhanging portion or outer edge, the outer surface or wall of thefilling will be prevented from moving, since the edge will be receivedin the depressions 18. The working surface of this tip, as in that shownin Figs. 3 and 4, may be shifted to operate upon any portion of thetooth.

In the form of the plugger shown in Fig. 7, the shank B is provided withasocket G, differing from the socket C-in that it is closed at one end,and the socket C is interiorly threaded, and its mouth is hollowed outor chamfered. The tip D in this instance comprises a shank 19, which isscrewed into the socket O, and a body 19 of a hard material,semi-circular and adapted to fit in a measure into the mouth of thethreaded portion of the socket, while the working surface 20 is of ayielding or elastic material such as soft rubher, is shown in circularform and is attached to the body 19 in any approved manner.

In that form of the instrument shown in Fig. 9 ahandle E is employed,provided at one end with jaws E, each of said jaws being provided withan extension E semi-circular in cross section; and the handle islikewise provided with a means for compressing the jaws, or operatingthem to carry their extensions either to or from one another. The tip 21in this instance is made preferably entirely of a yielding or elasticmaterial, and may be of any desired shape, comprising, however, a bodyportion and a teat or lug, the latter being adapted to be received andclamped between the extensions of the jaws of the handle, as shown inFig. 10. Under this constrnction it will be observed that with onehandle, or a set of handles, working tips having yielded workingsurfaces or faces of various forms may be interchangeably used, and thatan amalgam or soft filling, through the means of the said tips, maybeplaced in any form of cavity, no matter where located.

As heretofore stated, the yielding Working ,face of the pluggers orother equivalent tools employed, when used to place an amalgam filling,will elfectually draw the mercury to the surface of the filling, whilethe filling can be firmly packed in an exceedingly short space of time,leaving the filling, as the free mercury is removed therefrom,non-shrinkable and very hard.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A dental plugger provided with a socket and with atip held to turn in the socket and having a working face of yieldingmaterial, substantially as described.

2. Adental plugger provided with a socket, a tube in the socket, and atip having a working face of yielding material and adj ustably held inthe same tube, substantially as dcscribed.

3. A dental plugger provided with a socket, a tube fitting in the socketand having a fiaring outer end, and a tip, consisting of a shank fittingin the flaring end and body of the tube, and a working face of yieldingmaterial on the end of the shank, substantially as described.

4. In a dental plugger, an elastic working surface provided with adepression adapted to receive the filling at the margin of a tooth,whereby the said working surface will act simultaneously on the crownand wall, as set forth.

5. In a dental plngger, a tip comprising a body portion and a lug orshank, the whole being of elastic or yielding material, substantially asdescribed.

JAMES IV. DENNIS.

Witnesses:

F. W. HANAFoRn, C. SEDewIoK,

